Chapter 3

"Kneel before me, if you don't want me to behead you right here!"

She spoke in a firm yet commanding tone, making Xuan gulp with nervousness.

"w-wait! what are you…" he stood there with panic, as she approached him with her blade.

"Just kneel!" she said as she took a step.

Xuan was looking gloomy, he was having wild thoughts, one where his man ego wouldn't let him kneel in front of anyone other than his parents, another was telling him, it's okay to kneel in front of your partner.

He started to imagine himself and her being together…

"kneel!"

She took another step.

"wait! If I kneel you will believe me right?" he asked while stuttering, as he decided to go with the second option. Considering her as his partner, wouldn't hurt his ego, and was the best option.

"we will see about that!" she said in a straight tone.

He lowered his back and put his knee on the ground. And slowly we ended his body until it touched the ground.

He felt a bit embarrassed kneeling before such a beautiful girl. Yet, he was pretty easygoing, so he did not care much about it.

Even after he was kneeling, the girl kept the sword edge at his neck and looked at him.

She slowly put her hand on his forehead and closed her eyes.

Xuan was surprised if not startled by her actions, yet he let her do whatever she wanted.

Her soft hands touched his forehead, making him squirm in nervousness.

He felt a very warm feeling on his forehead, that made him relaxed.

He breathed away all his worries for a second, then let the warm sensation subside.

As he was enjoying his moment, he felt cold on his forehead.

As he opened his eyes he saw, that the girl had removed her hands.

Although pretty disappointed, he kept smiling. She looked at him for a good a few seconds then spoke,

"I can't invader or search your memories… but still, I can feel that you do not possess any malicious intent toward this place or me."

She spoke as her eyebrows slightly curved along with his lips. She smiled! Even if it was just for a moment, she smiled!!

Xuan lost in front of her smile. Xuan felt his heart is out of control. He could feel the immense pressure building inside his heart.

"So… Can you tell me how I'm gonna go back? I have some business to do." Xuan said As he got up from the ground and looked around.

"That's… you have to go huh?..." the Lady pondered for a few seconds then responded, "no can do, I don't know how to send people, I will figure out a way to send you back. Until then, you can stay here."

"What do you mean by that?" Xuan asked and looked at her with wide eyes.

"it's what it is, you have to wait," she said and turned around to leave.

Xuan stood there with a dumbfounded look. "what am I gonna do now? Should I Log out then log in again?"

He powdered for a whole then called her out, "Hey, can't just walk out of here?"

She stopped before turning around, "no you can't! This place is in a different realm. This isn't your world."

She said as she sat down on the ground. Xuan heard her and sighed.

He went closer to her and then sat next to her. "so… you live here alone?"

He asked, looking at the surroundings.

"...Yes, been here alone for a long time, I haven't seen anyone else other than my mother in my whole life…"

She said and became quiet.

Xuan frowned upon hearing that. He looked at her with sympathy.

"Why don't you go to the outside world then?" Xuan asked with confusion in his eyes.

"I can't… I don't know how to get out of here, and that's also why I can't send you outside." saying that she looked at the sky.

After a moment of silence, she spoke, "I want to go outside too…"

Xuan looked at her for a moment then frowned. "I can only see flowers all around this place, where do you live? and eat?"

She looked at him strangely then spoke, "I live here? and I am prohibited from eating anything."

Xuan did not know what to say, this girl is really strange. And why would anyone prohibit her from eating anything? And why is this girl here in the first place?

These thoughts were running in his mind as she looked at him, smiling helplessly.

"It looks like someone trapped you here…" she spoke as a visible sign of anger flashed across her face, which Xuan didn't miss.

"So, is there a way to exit this place?" he asked after thinking about it thoroughly.

'if this is a game, then the developers must have designed the exit too, right?' he thought and looked at her expectantly.

"There is a way, but I don't know for sure if you can escape or not," she said distantly, she looked at him, then turned her head.

A smile formed on his face as he stood up immediately, "where is it? Tell me."

He didn't care much, because even if anything went wrong, he would be dead, but this is just a game…

Hearing him, she became quiet, she didn't say anything and looked the other way.

'huh? What is it?' Xuan thought in his mind but did not ask anything.

After a second, she stood up and started to walk, and she kept walking in a direction.

Xuan could still see flowers everywhere until his eyes spotted a gate-like structure, similar to what he had seen when he first entered the game.

"this… this is a portal?" He looked at the black hole in the gate-like structure.

Sparks coming from the black hole lightning up the surroundings.

As he was starting at the portal, a system notification appeared.

< ding >

[ Void portal detected! Warning! This is prohibited to use!]

Xuan stared at the screen with disbelief. He then looked at the girl, who was looking disappointed.

Then he started to think about how it would feel to live here alone. she had never seen anyone other than her mother, she must be feeling lonely…

'What should I do? I can't leave her alone like this…'

He wanted to think of this as a game and to not care about the NPC's feelings.

But there was something he couldn't deny. The game was too much realistic for a game.

He started to have doubts.

"Hey, you want to go outside too, right?" Xuan asked with a bright smile.

The girl noticed his smile and looked down, while fighting her fingers, "I can't… mother told me not to."

"why don't you come with me?" he turned to the girl and asked with a smile.

She looked at him, as she felt a little warmth in his voice.

"I want to, but…"

she hesitated but after a few minutes, she agreed to go.

'looks like she wanted to go… it's just that she needed a little push.' Xuan thought as to how easily she agreed.

Then they both turned to the gate and looked at each other.

Xuan blushed a bit then slowly extended his hand to hers, to hold hands.

Which she didn't mind, and crossed her fingers with his.

They looked at each other one last time, "here we go, if we successfully manage to leave this place, we will be together."

He muttered slowly as they vanished within the portal.

As he entered the portal, everything turned black, as he couldn't see anything.

But suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked around as he felt his soul being torn apart from the inside.

As he felt every strand of energy leave his body, his brain started to hallucinate.

But as he was about to lose his consciousness, he felt a hand grabbing his hand.

His willpower suddenly hiked as he felt the warm hand in his hand, and his mind started to become more clearer.

. . .

"haaah!"

Xuan opened his eyes, looking at the bright yet gentle sunlight, he guessed, it was still morning.

"awhhh…"

A female voice came from his behind, making him turn with surprise.

He looked at the owner of the voice, a beautiful silver-haired lady, sitting there on the ground.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking at the Lady.

She fixed her white robe and stood up. She didn't answer him, as her eyes started to wander around the forest they were in.

This was the first time she saw something else other than flowers. A stunning smile appeared on her face, as she felt a burst of dopamine.

Xuan looked at her with an astonished look, because that was a rare moment.

"What do you think?" he asked from the side, as her eyes locked on him.

"Amazing… this is so beautiful," she said and wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you! If not for you, I might not be able to make it outside," she said as she placed her head on his chest.

Xuan felt a burst of emotions at once. This might be the first time he had embraced someone, other than his mother.

He wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek on her head.

Even though he didn't know her name, felt a close connection with her.

As they parted reluctantly, they stood there for a moment before they started to walk.

"where should we go?" she asked as she peeked at him at the corner of her eyes.

He looked confused as well, but then his eyes caught the sight of a road around the corner, where he was at the last time.

"Look, the road over there will lead us to a village or city."

He said they started to walk, and she took the time to tell about herself.

"My name is Duan Zi. As far as I remember, I was born in the outside world, but for some reason, my mother used to keep me inside a room, and never let me out. I grew up with my mom. My mom used to tell me a lot of things about the outside world, that is why I always wondered if I could ever get to see the outside world. But one day, my mother came back and took me somewhere. That's the last thing I remember before I passed out.

And when I saw you, I was very happy that there were other people too, like my mother said."

Xuan listened to her carefully and then said, "So how long have you been there?"

She put her hand on the chin and pondered for a second.

"Maybe 900 years? I don't remember clearly, but that's around it," she said with a smile.

He looked at her with a dumbfounded expression. '900 years? Is she still a human? Or is it normal for cultivators?'

He looked at her with a weird expression.

"I see… What were you doing in those 900 years?" he couldn't help but ask in curiosity.

She pondered for a while then said, "I was mostly cultivating and practicing alchemy."

She said with a proud tone.

"you are a cultivator I see… wait! You can concoct pills?" he asked her with shock.

She nodded her head, "I am still an amateur so I can concoct high-grade pills at most."

"Are you interested in alchemy, Xuan?" she asked while walking.

As he listened to her a smile formed on his face as he listened to her.

"yes!"